Honesty Prequels
by PepperjackCandy
Summary: How Clark and Lex evolved from "just friends" to lovers in the Honesty series.
1. Protection (The Beginning of the Series)

Title: Honesty Prequel 1 -- Protection  
Author: PepperjackCandy  
Series: Comes before "Christmas"  
Archive : Smallville Slash Archive, my writing at fanfiction.net  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: Clark/Lex  
Category: Established Relationship  
Spoilers for: References to Jitters  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Smallville-related, or related in any other way to Clark Kent, Superman or any of the various creations of the wonderful folks at DC Comics.   
  
Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail or using the review system at fanfiction.net.   
  
A/N: I think I've followed the Honesty universe to it's beginning. As many of us do, I see Jitters as a turning point for our boys. This is more or less a ficlet just showing where it all starts.   
  
========  
  
Lex was having nightmares again. Every night since the Level 3 debacle, it was the same nightmare.   
  
~~~  
  
He hung from the catwalk, yelling Clark's name.  
  
Clark pulled him up. "I've got you, Lex."  
  
Lex looked dubiously at what was left of the catwalk as he floated upwards, suspended by Clark's preternaturally-strong arm. "You've got me? But who's got you?  
  
And every night, the dream ended the same, with dream-Clark giving Lex a strange, secretive smile.  
  
~~~  
  
Every morning, he awoke earlier, and every day he needed more caffeine to make it through.  
  
Finally, he woke one Friday to find his car about to smash into a lamp post. He pulled the car over to the side of the road. "Jesus!" He swore. "I'm falling asleep behind the wheel. I need some more coffee."  
  
Not trusting himself to drive, Lex climbed out of his car and walked the rest of the way to the Beanery, both longing for and dreading seeing Clark again.   
  
Sure enough, as he reached forward for the handle of the door, the door swung open, and Clark emerged, crashing right into him.  
  
"Oh, sorry, Lex!" Clark's eyes were wide with surprise.  
  
"That's all right." Lex smiled expansively, stifling a yawn as he did so. "Why don't you come and sit down with me for a while?"  
  
"Sorry, Lex. I can't. Lana and I are working on a project for school, and we've . . ."  
  
Too late, Lex noticed Lana standing at Clark's side. His smile faded from his eyes. "Oh. Then go right on ahead. Good luck."  
  
Clark gave Lex a dazzling grin. "Thanks. I'll see you around."  
  
Lana's smile was more subdued. "See you later, Lex."   
  
Together, they walked away. Lex, suddenly lonely, walked into the Beanery. He walked to the counter and ordered a cappuccino to go. As the waitress handed his drink to him, he heard a familiar, vicious voice snarl the word, "Kent."  
  
Lex calmly looked over, seeing Whitney Fordman and lecturing some of his cronies. Guzzling half of the cappuccino quickly, Lex headed for the table.   
  
"But what if we hurt him?" Lex heard one of the vapid jocks surrounding Fordman ask.  
  
"Don't worry about that. He's gotta learn not to mess with my girlfriend."  
  
That did it. Lex could neither allow Clark to be hurt, nor could he stand for Clark's uncanny durability to be discovered. He swallowed the rest of the beverage, then approached Whitney.   
  
"Fordman." He said civilly. "Can we . . . talk?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Not here. Let's go someplace more private." Lex indicated an empty booth on the other side of the restaurant.  
  
The two men walked in silence to the empty booth.  
  
Whitney opened the conversation with, "What do you want?"  
  
"I want," Lex held up the now-empty cup, looking into it, rather than at Fordman. "You to stop harassing Clark Kent."  
  
"I wasn't . . ."  
  
"Weren't you?"  
  
"Well, I was, but . . ."  
  
"But he's doing a school project with your girlfriend. A. school. project."  
  
"But he's just doing it to get close to her."  
  
"And you're insulted that he appreciates your taste in girlfriends?" Lex asked mockingly.   
  
"Mr. Luthor -" Whitney began angrily.  
  
"Look, Fordman. Kent's my friend. And I take threats to my friends as threats to me." He silently, instantly, crushing the cardboard cup in one hand.   
  
Whitney swallowed audibly. "Yes, Mr. Luthor." He nodded.  
  
"I thought you'd understand." Lex gave Whitney a false, cold smile.  
  
The combination of caffeine from the cappuccino and adrenaline from his confrontation with Whitney was enough to keep him awake the rest of the way home. After he arrived at Luthor Manor, he fell immediately into bed.  
  
~~~  
  
He hung from the catwalk, yelling Clark's name.  
  
Clark pulled him up. "I've got you, Lex."  
  
Lex looked dubiously at what was left of the catwalk as he floated upwards, suspended by Clark's preternaturally-strong arm. "You've got me?" He stopped, then, as Clark brought him to stand on the rickety remains of the catwalk, realization dawning in his eyes. "I've got you, too, don't I?" Lex asked with a smile.  
  
Dream-Clark's return smile was dazzling. "I thought you'd never figure that out." Then dream-Clark leaned forward, catching Lex's mouth in a sizzlingly-passionate kiss.  
  
~~~  
  
Lex awoke to the sound of his alarm clock, realizing that he'd gotten his first full night's sleep since the Level 3 fiasco. And with that realization came the memory of his dream, and the knowledge that he wanted, no, needed Clark Kent.  
  
_But can I afford to pursue him?_ Lex asked himself as he stared at the ceiling of his bedroom. _Can I afford not to?_


	2. Christmas - An

Title: Christmas - An "Honesty" Prequel  
Author: PepperjackCandy  
Series: Prequel to the "Honesty" series  
Archive : Smallville Slash Archive, my writing at fanfiction.net  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: Clark/Lex  
Category: Romance  
Spoilers for: Jitters  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Smallville-related, or related in any other way to Clark Kent, Superman or any of the various creations of the wonderful folks at DC Comics.   
  
Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail or using the review system at fanfiction.net.  
  
A/N: I hope you'll forgive me for this one. It's hopelessly cheesy and sentimental and definitely songficcy around the edges. It's also hopelessly cheesy and sentimental. Oh, wait, I said that already, didn't I? Well, it's really, really cheesy and sentimental. The song, if you're not good at placing songs from only two lines of lyrics, is "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias.  
  
=============  
  
Clark wandered through the crush of people that lined the main corridor of Luthor Manor. He was going to walk to the end of the hallway, and if he didn't see Lex by then, he was going to turn around and go home. _Maybe I should have called first._   
  
Clark barely dodged a jaded twentysomething with a shaved head. He wondered briefly if the choice of hairstyle was in imitation of Lex. _Bald looks better on Lex,_ Clark thought, then blushed at the thought.  
  
He reached the end of the hallway and turned to head back towards the front door, running right into Lex.   
  
"Hey, Clark." Lex grinned. "A couple of people told me you were here." He began to lead Clark back down the hallway, the crowd parting to allow them to pass as they walked.  
  
"They did? But they don't know me."  
  
"That's the point." Lex's grin grew wider.  
  
Clark's face clouded over. "Am I intruding?"  
  
"No. Of course not. These are some . . . friends from Metropolis, that's all." Lex hastened to assure him.  
  
"Well, I just came by to wish you a Merry Christmas, and," he glanced down at the sizable box in his hands.  
  
"A Christmas present?" Lex seemed genuinely surprised. "I didn't get you anything."  
  
Clark smiled softly. "You didn't have to. Christmas isn't about trading presents. It's about," he shrugged, "spending time with people you care about. Family."  
  
"Good, because I'm doing that now."   
  
It took a moment for the import of Lex's statement to register. At first, Clark thought he meant that the crowd of chicly-casually dressed strangers were his family, but then he realized that Lex had meant *him.* "Oh." He said, feeling foolish as he blushed.  
  
"Come on. Let's go in here where we can be alone." Lex opened a door and led Clark into a room where he'd never been before. The furniture was covered with sheets, and Clark could hear music coming from somewhere.   
  
Clark looked around for the source of the music. "Upstairs," Lex told him. "The ballroom's right above us. I set it aside for more . . . romantic music than what's playing down the hall."   
  
"Ah." Clark fidgeted, wondering what they were going to do in there.  
  
"Storage." Lex said with a twinkle in his eye. "No one will look for us here, plus," he winked, "I can lock the door."  
  
Then, Lex deftly removed the sheet from a sofa. "Care for a seat?"  
  
Clark sat down and set the box on his knees. Lex sat next to him. "May I?" He indicated the box. "I can't imagine what you got me."  
  
"Well, that's just it," Clark babbled, "I couldn't imagine anything that I could *buy* you that you couldn't buy yourself, so I, well, you'll see." He handed the box out to Lex.  
  
"Oof. Heavy. You definitely are stronger than you look." Lex shifted the box onto his own knees and unwrapped it, tossing the paper onto the floor.   
  
He lifted the lid from the box and his jaw dropped. "Oh, my God. Clark . . ."   
  
"Is it all right?"  
  
Lex began lifting things from the box - Tupperware containers of cookies, cellophane-wrapped brownies, he held up a cellophane-wrapped loaf, looking at Clark curiously.  
  
"Banana bread."   
  
"Ah." Then, grinning like a kid, he continued digging, until he came to the bottom of the box. "Pie?"  
  
"Apple." Clark smiled. "Not from our own trees, though. Mom uses Granny Smith apples in her pies, and we don't grow them."  
  
Lex secretly breathed a sigh of relief at this news. His eyes shone with something somewhere between happiness and tears. He choked it back and put on his suave demeanor. "So, who did your mom think she was supplying with baked goods?"   
  
"Um. Lex Luthor." Clark answered like his friend had gone a little off the deep end. "That's why just the loaf of banana bread. She didn't think you'd go for the zucchini bread, too."  
  
"Zucchini bread?"   
  
"Yeah. Only. You don't call it zucchini, do you? There's some uppercrust word for it, isn't there?"  
  
"Courgette."  
  
Clark nodded, smiling. "Yeah. That's it."  
  
"Well, I'd love to try some of your mother's zucchini bread," he emphasized the word _zucchini_ with a grin.  
  
"I'll bring a couple of slices over the next time I come to visit." Clark smiled.  
  
"I'd like that." Lex wasn't sure if he meant the bread, or the visit.  
  
"Don't you have a party to get back to?" Clark asked as the music upstairs changed.  
  
Lex shrugged. "That's all just, you know, something to pass the time. I really would rather be here with you."  
  
"Really? You're just saying that."  
  
"No. I mean it. You're . . . my best friend."  
  
Clark blushed. "You've got lots of other friends."  
  
"I have had a varied social life, yes, and some people that I call friends, but you're one of *very* few that I feel comfortable being myself around."  
  
"Really?"  
  
Lex nodded. "Really."   
  
They stopped talking, then, and just sat in silence for a minute, listening to the sound of pop tunes filtering from the floor above.   
  
Lex reached into the box and pulled out a Tupperware container. "Cookie?" He asked.  
  
Clark grinned and took one. Lex did as well.  
  
"These are really good." Lex said with a mouthful of cookie.   
  
"Mom'll be glad to hear you liked them."  
  
As the love song upstairs crescendoed, one pair of blue eyes met the other and the silence between them grew weighted. Then, they spoke simultaneously.  
  
"Clark, I . . ."  
  
"Do you feel . . ."  
  
They both laughed.   
  
"I wanted to thank you. Not just for the goodies, but for everything. Saving my life over and over, being there. Being you."   
Clark blushed. "Well, you know that you've saved my life at least as often as I've saved yours."  
  
"I don't think so."   
"Well, let's see, I saved you by the river, then you took me down from the cross. . . ."  
  
"That wouldn't have killed you, Clark."  
  
"You saw me, Lex. Did I look like I'd last much longer?"  
  
Lex shook his head. "Actually, no, you didn't. So, I'll give you that one."  
  
"Then you saved all of the kids when Earl was holding them hostage, and I pulled you off the scaffolding."  
  
"Is that it?"  
  
"I think so." Clark tried to remember. "Earl, scarecrow, scaffolding . . . "  
  
"Shh." Lex quieted him. "Oh. That's eerie."  
  
"What?" Clark asked in a tone like Lex was hallucinating.  
  
"Can I ask for one more thing for Christmas?"  
  
"Sure. Anything."   
  
"Don't tempt me with 'anything' Clark. I'm not sure I could handle it."  
  
Clark looked confused as Lex stood and held out one hand.   
  
"Stand up."  
  
"All right."   
  
Clark stood, trusting that whatever Lex was going to do wouldn't harm him. Lex still marveled at Clark's simple ability to trust him, and prayed that he would be worthy of that trust. And that he wasn't about to embarrass himself terribly.  
  
Lex was suddenly overcome with shyness. "It's this song. It always reminds me of you."  
  
Clark blushed again as the import of the lyrics hit him. "It does?"  
  
Lex nodded. "I know I'm going to regret this, but it's Christmas, and maybe you would forgive me if I asked you to dance?"  
  
Something hit Clark then and made his knees wobble slightly, like when he was under the influence of Lana's necklace, but in the very best way possible. He nodded. "Yes. I'd love to."  
  
Lex wrapped his arms around Clark's waist and snuggled in. After a moment's hesitation about where to put his arms, Clark wrapped his arms around Lex's waist, as well, so they were holding each other in a loose embrace. He closed his eyes and rested his head on Lex's shoulder as they swayed slowly to the music.  
  
Lex shifted his grip so that his arms were around Clark's neck and began to sing softly in an on-key but untrained voice, "I will stand by you forever. You can take my breath away."  
  
All too soon, the song was ended, and with it, Lex's excuse to hold Clark. He reluctantly lowered his arms and stepped back as Clark released him. He was almost afraid to look Clark in the eyes, but what he saw there when he looked almost stopped his heart in his chest.   
  
Clark was looking at him like he'd never really *seen* Lex before, his blue eyes lit with a fire that Lex had only ever dreamed of seeing. Clark's eyes drifted down to Lex's lips, and Lex knew what was coming next.   
  
He reached out and placed a finger on Clark's lips, forestalling the kiss. "No, Clark. It's not right."  
  
Clark was confused. "What? How can you say that?"   
  
"You're carried away by romance, Clark. Like your Rapunzel fantasy of Lana, off there in her tower, being held prisoner by the evil witch Nell Potter. But if we take that next step, it's not going to be a fairy tale. It'd be real life. We'd have to keep secrets, and someday deal with your Dad on a completely different level than we've had to so far. This far, we can pretend that was just a hug. But from the moment our lips touch, things will change. And I want us to take that step with our eyes wide open. So to speak."  
  
Clark nodded. "But I'm not going to change my mind."  
  
"Good. We'll see how you feel in January."  
  
Clark had to chuckle at Lex's insistence that he would change his mind. "I've got to get home. My folks are waiting dessert for me to get back."  
  
Lex nodded. "Tell them I said hello."  
  
"I will. Could I come by tomorrow with some of that zucchini bread I threatened you with?"  
  
"I'd like nothing better."  
  
Clark nodded, suddenly as puppylike as he'd always been. He moved quickly and wrapped Lex in a hug. "Merry Christmas, Lex." Then, before he could change his mind, he unlocked and opened the door and then disappeared into the throng of people in the hallway.  
  
"Merry, Christmas, Clark." 


	3. New Year's Day - Another

Title: New Year's Day - Another "Honesty" Prequel  
Author: PepperjackCandy  
Series: Prequel to the "Honesty" series, sequel to Christmas - An "Honesty" Prequel  
Archive : Smallville Slash Archive, my writing at fanfiction.net  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: Clark/Lex  
Category: Romance  
Spoilers for: Moulin Rouge, my own Honesty series  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Smallville-related, or related in any other way to Clark Kent, Superman or any of the various creations of the wonderful folks at DC Comics.   
  
Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail or using the review system at fanfiction.net.  
  
A/N: For those who've caught up on Honesty, remember, this is two months prior to Lex's kidnapping Clark in Chapter 1. This will be important to remember later.  
  
WARNING: If you haven't seen "Moulin Rouge" yet, go out and rent it, then come back and read this. Unless you want the whole darned thing spoiled for you.   
  
=============  
  
At 12:03 a.m., Lex's cell phone rang. He answered it without glancing at the caller ID. "Lex Luthor."  
  
It was Clark. "Hey, Lex. I just wanted to call and tell you that it's January and I still want to kiss you."  
  
Warmth spread through his stomach and into his groin at these words. He hurried from the room and into the cloak room, where he'd spent so many Christmases. If his father caught him in there, he'd assume that Lex was regressing. When he was finally alone, he responded. "Clark! I thought you understood that I meant a little *farther* into January."  
  
He could almost hear Clark shrugging. "You didn't say when in January. And in further news, I'm sixteen now."  
  
"What? When did that happen?"  
  
"Oh, about," Clark paused, "four minutes ago."  
  
"It's your birthday?" Lex wondered how in all of his research, he'd missed something as obvious as Clark having a New Year's Day birthday.  
  
"Well, my folks considered a lot of dates - February second, April first . . . finally they decided on January first. You know, new beginnings, all that."  
  
"Very fitting." Lex said candidly. "You've been a source of new beginnings to everyone whose lives you've touched."  
  
"Everyone?"  
  
"Yes. Everyone."  
  
"I wanted to call you at midnight, but, you know, I had to spend the first minutes of the new year with my folks."  
  
"Well, there are still two to go."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Lex laughed. "Mountain and Pacific time. In," he glanced at his watch, "fifty-four and one hour and fifty-four minutes from now. And that's not counting Alaska, or Hawaii, or . . ."  
  
"All right. All right." Clark interrupted, laughing. "I'll call you back in fifty-four minutes, then."  
  
"Fifty-three."  
  
Clark sighed heavily. "All right. Let's synchronize our watches. I have 12:07."  
  
"12:08, and it's synched with the Naval Observatory's atomic clock."  
  
"All right. I now have," a brief pause while Clark set his watch, "12:09."   
  
"Close enough."  
  
"Good. I'll call you back in fifty-one minutes."  
  
Lex laughed warmly. "I'll look forward to it."  
  
Lex exited the coat room, tucking his cell phone back into his pocket and thanking whatever impulse had led him to get a cell phone local to Smallville. Clark could call him and talk all night without his parents being any the wiser. A phone call to Metropolis, on the other hand . . .  
  
Lionel joined his son in the foyer. "There you are, Lex."  
  
"I just had to . . . take care of some personal business."  
  
"Well, I have another potential client that I want to introduce you to."  
  
Trying to reign in his impulse to sigh heavily, Lex allowed himself to be guided back into the ballroom.  
  
Fifty minutes later, his cell phone vibrated, right on schedule. He said a silent prayer to deities he'd only just started to believe in and excused himself with a casual glance at the caller I.D. on the phone and, "This is an important call that I must take. If you'll excuse me."  
  
He stepped away from his father's boring business associate. "Lex Luthor."  
  
"It's January in Colorado now, and I still want to kiss you."  
  
Lex stepped into the foyer. "Well, then, I'll have to kiss you in Colorado then, sometime." He opened the coat room door and stepped inside, running a finger along the coats as he walked further in.  
  
"Promises, promises."  
  
"I never make promises. I make threats. Wait. That came out wrong. It should be the other way around."  
  
Clark laughed out loud. "Well, whether it was a threat or a promise, I'll be happy to take you up on it sometime."   
"Maybe we'll go skiing next winter. Hell, maybe we'll go skiing next week. You ski?"  
  
"Lex. I'm from Kansas. You know. Flatter than flat? I don't think that snow, vertical surfaces and I have ever been in the same place at the same time."  
  
"Oh. Well, you're pretty sturdy. I'm sure I can teach you."  
  
"I'm probably unteachable. I'd probably kill someone."  
  
"You? Never!"   
  
The certainty in Lex's tone took Clark's breath away. "How can you do that?"  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Sound so sure that I'm not a total failure."  
  
"Because I am sure, Clark." Silently, he cursed Jonathan and Martha Kent, Chloe Sullivan, Pete Ross, Lana Lang, Whitney Fordham, and anyone else he'd forgotten to mention for making this gem feel like common gravel. Oh, and Nell Potter. Why? Just because.  
  
Lex found his coat, finally, in the darkness of the coat room.  
  
"Lex?" Clark's voice was unsure.  
  
"Er. Oof. Just a second." Still holding the cell phone in one hand, Lex shrugged into his coat. "Ah. There."  
  
He opened the door of the coat room.  
  
"Lex? What's going on?"  
  
Lex crossed the foyer and pushed the "down" button for the elevator. "Listen, we're about to be cut off, so can you be over at my place at seven tonight? Bring a movie of your choice." And then Lex said the last thing he expected he'd ever say about the lonely castle on the edge of the cornfields. "I'm heading home."  
  
Five hours and fifty-five minutes later, Lex heard a knock on the door just as the alarm on his new watch sounded.   
  
He opened the door and Clark was standing there, awkwardly shuffling from one foot to the other. "Hi." He said, looking down at his feet.  
  
"Hello, Clark." Lex leaned forward slightly, attempting to make eye contact with the boy. "You want to come in?"  
  
Clark looked up slightly and Lex almost grabbed him and kissed him right there. "Yeah." He shook a videotape box in his right hand. "I brought a movie."  
  
"Good. Which one?"  
  
"Um, well, _Moulin Rouge._"   
  
"Oh." Lex answered, somewhat confusedly, as he admitted Clark into the castle.  
  
"Yeah. Well, I sort of asked Chloe what would be a good movie for, well, kissage, and she suggested this one."  
  
"Kissage?" He shook his head, as if to clear it. "Wait a minute. You told Chloe that you were going to kiss Lex Luthor tonight, and asked her opinion about what movie to bring?"  
  
"No. I sort of let her think that it was, you know, a Lana thing."  
  
Lex wasn't sure how he felt about that. "Let her think?"  
  
Clark finally looked up. "Well, I just asked her about romantic movies, and she brought Lana into it, so I just ran with it."  
  
Without pausing for breath, Clark changed the subject. "I hope videotape's all right."  
  
Lex nodded. "I prefer videotape, actually." He replied enigmatically.  
  
Clark watched the movie.   
  
Lex watched Clark.  
  
Lex knew the overall plot of the movie -- it was after all, a version of the tale of Camille, the consumptive courtesan, and her ill-fated love for Armand. In this case, Camille's name was Satine, and Armand's name was Christian, but the tale ends the same.  
  
The real show was Clark's reactions to the film. Lex wondered if he'd ever felt *anything* as strongly as Clark felt that movie.   
  
He laughed as the Argentinan fell through the ceiling, leading to Christian's introduction to Henri and his associates.  
  
He blushed at the close-ups of the dancers' crotches in the Moulin Rouge.  
  
He flinched as Christian was caught by the Duke in the elephant.  
  
He got goosebumps during the love medley.  
  
He nearly climbed into Lex's lap as the Duke assaulted Satine.  
  
And as Satine died in Christian's arms, one tear leaked down his cheek.  
  
Finally, as the credits rolled, Clark looked at Lex. "Now I don't feel like kissing at all."   
"That bad, huh?"  
  
"She *died*, Lex! How's that romantic?"  
  
"Oh, I don't know, I found death to be fairly romantic. But then, Satine's angel wasn't able to rescue her." He held his arms out and Clark slid along the sofa into Lex's comforting embrace.  
  
A few minutes later, Lex broke the silence. "Hey, happy birthday, by the way."   
  
Clark sniffled. "What? Oh, yeah, thanks."  
  
"Come with me." Lex gently disentangled himself from Clark and stood, holding his hand out.  
  
Clark stood, grasping Lex's hand, and together they left the room.   
  
"I know you like camping and all that stuff. To me, roughing it is a hotel without room service, but I found that one of Dad's faceless minions is a camper or whatever and asked him for a bit of help with something. I just hope he wasn't shitting me."  
  
Lex led Clark out the back of the house and into an atrium. Cold air whipped through from somewhere, Clark couldn't see in the darkness. But he could see a glow ahead, almost like the glow of, "A campfire?"   
  
Lex nodded. "Yeah. They're predicting snow for tonight, so we had to do this indoors. I'll only go so far for romance, at least before the first kiss, and so we took out a couple of panes of glass over there," Lex pointed to one far end of the atrium, "and over there," he pointed the other way, "for ventilation and Derek or Darren or whoever he was built a fire. He went home at eight, so he lit it before he left. He promised me it'd last until at least ten."  
  
Clark nodded. "It could use a little more wood, though."  
  
"I assume that's around here somewhere. He also suggested I lay in a supply of . . . that stuff." Lex pointed uneasily towards a table just on the edge of the ring of light cast by the fire.  
  
Clark walked to the table and saw several bags of marshmallows, a couple of boxes of graham crackers and a box full of some fancy candy bars that Clark had never heard of. "You got stuff to make s'mores?"  
  
Lex's eyes shone with relief. "That was for real, then?"  
  
Clark nodded. "Yeah. They're great. A little messy, but you'll love them."  
  
And Clark set to work, stoking the fire, helping Lex skewer his marshmallows, giving him pointers on how to toast the marshmallows correctly, and helping Lex assemble his gooey sandwich, which took several attempts, and still turned out lopsided.  
  
Finally, both laughing like children, they ate.  
  
"These are good!" Lex said around a mouthful of marshmallow.  
  
"You've got a smudge of chocolate there."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Right." Clark pointed on his own face, then sighed and reached out a finger, swiping at the corner of Lex's mouth. "There." He stuck his finger in his mouth, licking the chocolate off.  
  
Lex couldn't help wishing Clark had licked the chocolate off, but he knew that this had to be Clark's decision and happen at Clark's pace.  
  
Finally, faces and hands covered with chocolate and melted marshmallow, Clark asked Lex casually, "Is it January on American Samoa or wherever yet?"  
  
Lex nodded. "I think it's January everywhere by now."  
  
"Good. Because I still want to kiss you."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
Clark nodded. "I've never been surer of anything."  
  
"Well, then. Allow me." Lex licked most of the chocolate from his fingers and, as suavely as he could with butterflies dancing through his veins, pulled Clark closer to him. "This is when you close your eyes, Clark." He coached.  
  
"Oh." Clark followed Lex's instruction.  
  
Lex reached up and kissed Clark ever. so. gently. Then, he increased the pressure slightly, encouraging Clark to part his lips slightly. Clark complied willingly.   
  
Lex, aware of the marshmallow residue still on his fingers, fought the urge to slide his hands up into Clark's hair. Marshmallow on his shirt would be much easier to explain away than in his hair.   
  
They kissed for several more minutes and then finally, reluctantly, separated.   
  
"Wow." Clark blinked.  
  
"That does pretty much sum it up." Lex said easily.  
  
Clark narrowed his eyes at Lex. "That didn't affect you at all, did it?"  
  
"Of course it did. I just have years of experience keeping my composure."  
  
Clark's eyes twinkled in the half-light of the burning embers. "Well, let's go wash our hands, and then I'll see how I do at making you lose your composure." 


	4. Epiphany

Title: Honesty Prequel 3 -- Epiphany  
Author: PepperjackCandy  
Series: Follows "New Year's Day"  
Archive : Smallville Slash Archive, my writing at fanfiction.net  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: Clark/Lex  
Category: Established Relationship  
Spoilers for: Nothing  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Smallville-related, or related in any other way to Clark Kent, Superman or any of the various creations of the wonderful folks at DC Comics. *The Snow Queen* is copyright 1980 by Joan D. Vinge, who is a goddess.  
  
Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail or using the review system at fanfiction.net.   
  
A/N: My hubby found a copy of World's End, the sequel to The Snow Queen, which is out of print, at a used book store. We have framed signed prints of Michael Whelan's covers of The Snow Queen and The Summer Queen on our living room wall, too. An explanation for Lex's odd comment about the Milvian Bridge can be found here: http://www.ukans.edu/history/index/europe/ancient_rome/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/bridges/Ponte_Milvio/home.html. You'll probably have to cut-and-paste the link. And yes, the "don't need to practice" joke is lifted from an old episode of Soap.  
  
========  
  
Clark had spent hours on Tuesday night making out with Lex, and then . . . nothing. He'd waited all day Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, to no avail. Several times he picked up the phone and dialed Lex's number, but Lex never answered, and Clark always hung up before the machine picked up.  
  
He no longer blushed thinking of Lex's lips on his. His face now flushed with anger, instead.   
  
Saturday morning found him coming down to breakfast to find his mother in the kitchen putting a bouquet of flowers in a vase. "Dad got you flowers?"  
  
Martha shook her head. "No. I don't know who they're from. They were on the back porch. They just had a card with my name on it."  
  
Clark raised an eyebrow. "You have a boyfriend?" He tried to say it without bitterness, remembering just a few days earlier, when he'd thought that he had a boyfriend, himself.  
  
Apparently it didn't work. "What's the matter, honey? You seem upset about something."  
  
Clark shook his head. "I just didn't sleep well last night." That, at least, was true. Worry that he'd done something to blow it with Lex, compounded with fear that Lex had just been toying with him, and anger at Lex for not even bothering to call, added up to a sleepless night.  
  
He had to admit, the flowers were beautiful, though. He didn't know much about flowers, especially since these looked exotic to his eyes, with sprays of something that might be orchids, but which were less frilly than the ones that some of the women wore as corsages to church on Mother's Day. They weren't what he or his father would have chosen for his mother, but the way she carefully put them in a vase and displayed them on the counter, she certainly seemed pleased with them.  
  
Being winter, most of the work on the farm was repair work, but that was rapidly becoming the time when Jonathan needed him most - his strength, his thoroughness, and occasionally, when things went wrong, his invulnerability.  
  
After grabbing a Pop-Tart from the box and nearly gulping it down whole, Clark went out to the barn to begin some of the repairs his father had asked of him. All the while, thinking.  
  
Thinking about his birthday. Thinking about the watch his parents gave him for his birthday, saying that maybe now he'd be on time for something. Thinking about the phone - frustratingly silent for the past three days. Thinking about why he landed *here* of all places, where his path would cross with Lex's, where he'd give his heart to a man who . . . to a man who was willing to put off their first kiss, for fear of rushing things and ruining their friendship.  
  
This gave him his first ray of hope all day. Lex had been concerned about their friendship. He'd wanted to protect it at all cost, even at the cost of missing out on a chance at love. Why would he do that and then ignore him?   
  
Clark made up his mind to call Lex right after . . .  
  
"Clark! Lunch!"   
  
His mother's voice startled him. He had no idea so much time had passed. Wiping his hands on a relatively-clean rag, he walked toward the house.  
  
After he was done eating, he said, "I've got some homework to do. And I want to give Lex a call. He's been really busy lately and I'd just like to, you know, check on him. See how he's doing."  
  
Jonathan rolled his eyes, but refrained from commenting.   
  
Martha sighed and looked concerned, but her only response was a nod and a slightly strained smile as she said, "Sure. Go ahead."  
  
Clark waited until his parents seemed busy with other things, then took his cell phone out of his book bag and took it upstairs to call Lex.  
  
Lex answered on the third ring. "Lex Luthor." He said flatly.  
  
"Lex? It's me. Clark." Clark said, even though Lex should have seen his number on his caller I.D. and known it was him.  
  
Lex made an affirmative, but still noncommittal, noise. "Mm-hmm."   
  
"Are you all right? Are *we* all right?"   
  
"Mm. Fine." Lex responded without inflection.  
  
Someone in the background, a male voice, said something.   
  
Clark heard the rustle of Lex's hand covering the mouthpiece and a muffled response that sure sounded like "produce delivery" to Clark, but he wondered if it was just his paranoia running away with him.  
  
"Lex? Is someone there?" He asked.  
  
"Hm? No. Not at all."   
  
Clark knew that Lex was lying. There *was* someone there, but Clark couldn't understand why Lex was trying to hide it.  
  
This, in turn, brought back his burgeoning paranoia in full force. He couldn't help wondering if Lex was trying to keep his visitor a secret - or Clark. Either way, he didn't like it.  
  
"All right." Clark tried to keep the disappointment out of his tone, but failed.   
  
As he cursed himself for sounding so desperate, he heard Lex say, "Yes. That will be fine. Thank you."   
  
And then Lex hung up.  
  
Clark pressed the 'end' button on his cell phone and returned downstairs, where he took his algebra book from his book bag and went into the dining room to start his homework. This was fruitless, as the sounds of his mother rummaging around in the kitchen was too distracting, so he took his book bag and went out to the barn, climbing into the loft and lost himself in his algebra homework.  
  
It had long since grown dark, and Clark had finished his algebra homework and moved on to English. He had to start on the spring semester outside reading and he had selected a science fiction novel that his English teacher had recommended highly - "The Snow Queen." He sat under the lamp his mother had put up there for him reading when he heard feet coming up the steps.  
  
Figuring it for his mother or, more likely, his father, he decided to just let them wait until he'd finished the chapter. Sparks had just told Arienrhod that he was going to challenge Starbuck, when he heard his visitor clear his throat. He looked up, to find Lex standing there, his hat in his hand, literally.   
  
"Hi," Lex said, looking at Clark like a starving man looking at a good steak.  
  
If Lex had been just a little over a minute earlier, when Arienrhod and Sparks were mourning the loss of Moon, Clark would have run to Lex, seeking comfort. Instead, Clark's heart jumped, but he stomped it down forcefully. "I'm just a page short of finishing this chapter." He indicated the book in his hands and looked back down at the book, effectively dismissing Lex from his presence.  
  
Lex waited patiently, but when Clark turned the page and kept reading, he spoke again. "I'm sorry about this afternoon."  
  
Clark closed the book and put it to one side. "What's to apologize for?" He shrugged with what he hoped was an air of nonchalance.  
  
"Not calling you all week. Then when you call me, I'm rude to you. I'd say that's something I need to apologize for."  
  
Clark, uncertain what to say, shrugged. "I don't have any claim on your time."  
  
"But you do." Lex sat on the floor next to Clark.   
  
This surprised Clark. "All right." Still, he held his body and his tone rigid. "So explain."  
  
"My dad's been riding my ass all week. He was after me for the end-of-year numbers. He knew I couldn't possibly have them ready by the first of the year, so he wanted them by the first of the year. Every time the hoop gets a little higher and a little smaller."  
  
"The hoop?"  
  
"The hoop my dad wants me to jump through. He sent over a couple of his own number-crunchers and told me I wouldn't get any rest until he had those numbers. I did it." Lex laughed, a little hysterically, and Clark suddenly saw the dark circles under Lex's eyes.   
  
"Jeez, Lex, didn't he at least let you get any sleep?"  
  
"Of course he did." Lex responded with false indignation. "Four whole hours per night. And last night I had four and a half hours to myself. From two-thirty until seven. That's when I ordered the flowers."  
  
Clark was confused. "Flowers?"   
  
"You didn't get them? I had them addressed to your mom?"  
  
Clark's eyes widened. "Those were for me? From you? Why?"  
  
"Well, I wanted to do the proper boyfriend thing, and send you flowers, but when I was ordering them last night, I sort of chickened out. I was afraid I'd make things difficult for you here. I know your folks aren't my biggest fans . . . . Anyway, I figured that anonymous flowers to your mom might raise their eyebrows, but wouldn't upset them." Lex leaned back against the wall of the barn, yawning.  
  
"You need to get some sleep." Clark admonished him gently.  
  
"No. I'm fine. Really." Lex shook his head, his heavy eyelids belying his words.  
  
"Well, I can't stay out here much longer. Mom's going to call me in to dinner soon."  
  
"Oh." Yawn. "I forgot. She told me that you were out here. The same time she asked me to tell you that dinner's on." Lex rested his head against the wall of the barn, his eyes falling shut.  
  
"Well, you want to join us? Lex?"   
  
The only response was the sound of Lex's soft snoring.   
  
Clark smiled and picked up a blanket, carefully placing it over Lex and tucking it in. Then, smiling gently and walking very quietly, he went down the stairs and back to the house for dinner.  
  
Clark ate as quickly as he could eat without arousing his parents' suspicions, then he returned to the barn and continued reading, keeping watch over Lex late through the night.  
  
As the sun peeked up over the horizon, Clark felt gentle lips touching his own. He jerked awake. "Wha -- ?"  
  
Lex was sitting on the floor next to him, smiling softly. "Morning." He whispered. "I was trying to get out of here without waking you, but I couldn't leave without a good-bye kiss."  
  
"You don't have to go." Clark, still half-asleep, slurred his words.  
  
"Actually, I do. I haven't taken a shower since seven o'clock *yesterday* morning. I need to brush my teeth, and . . . "  
  
"Shave?"  
  
Lex pinkened slightly. "Not so much. No."   
  
Clark tilted his head, confused.  
  
"I don't have any functioning hair follicles."   
  
Clark glanced at Lex's eyebrows and eyelashes, but decided that it was too early in their relationship to go there, so he didn't comment.  
  
Lex leaned forward, kissing Clark again. "You should probably get your chores done early."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I'm taking you out this afternoon."  
  
They shared a smile, then another kiss, then Lex put his hat back on and walked back down the stairs and out into the early winter morning.  
  
Clark got started on his chores, only stopping when Lex returned.   
  
"You ready to go?"  
  
Clark, who hadn't heard Lex arrive, jumped, his eyes wide. "No. I need to take a shower." His stomach rumbled. "And I haven't eaten anything."  
  
"Well, then, go take a shower, by all means. And we'll stop for lunch on the way."  
  
Clark began to walk towards the house, but he stopped. "On the way where?"  
  
"Ah, ah. That would be telling. Now go."   
  
Clark glanced around quickly, and, determining that they were alone, he kissed Lex quickly before jogging off to the house for his shower.  
  
Soon, they were parked in a booth in the diner, Clark finishing off his second hamburger. "I didn't have breakfast." He said around his final mouthful of french fries.  
  
"Geeze, Clark. It's going to cost a fortune to feed you in the future." Lex said, the import of those words, that he was willing, as well as able, to pay that fortune, straggling along in the wake of the words themselves.   
  
Clark looked up at Lex, a deer-in-the-headlights expression on his face. He blushed.  
  
Lex had the awful feeling he was blushing, himself. He offered a tentative smile.  
  
Clark offered a blindingly-white grin in response, and all of the tension dissipated.  
  
"So, where are we going now?" Clark asked.  
  
"Are you sure you're finished?" Lex ribbed him.  
  
In one long pull, Clark drained his glass of Coke. "I am now."   
  
"Well, then, why don't I show you?"   
  
Together, they stood and left the diner.  
  
They drove out of town, ending up on Carlan Road. Clark began feeling nervous as they headed farther down the road. He now knew where they were going, and feared what Lex would ask once they got there.  
  
They pulled to the side of the road just short of the bridge and Lex climbed out, Clark, head stooped as if he were headed for the block, followed.   
  
Lex looked over at him and smiled. "It can't be that bad, Clark. You look like you're going to the dentist or something." He held out his hand.  
  
Clark, pleased, and more than a little bemused, took the proffered hand, and together they walked out onto the bridge.  
  
"My own, personal, Milvian Bridge." Lex said, expansively.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"You know from the Emperor Constantine?"  
  
Clark shook his head. "I've heard the name, but . . ."  
  
Lex led Clark to a convenient spot, which just happened to be diagonally opposite the place where Clark had been brooding when Lex had hit him, resting his elbow, their fingers still interlaced, on the barrier.   
  
"Well, Constantine's probably directly responsible for you being Christian."  
  
"Me? What about you?"  
  
Lex gave him a quirky half-smile. "I'm Jewish."  
  
"Oh. I didn't know your family was Jewish."  
  
"They aren't. I am. My mom was Jewish, and the law says the religion of the mother is the religion of the child, so . . . . I don't practice, though."  
  
"Oh. Maybe you don't need to practice. Maybe you're just good at it."  
  
Lex gave Clark a quirky smile at the joke, then went back to lecturing. "Back to European history. Constantine ruled half of the Roman Empire. Well, technically, he shared the rule of his half with another Emperor, Maxentius. Constantine wanted it all, though, and fought Maxentius for it. At the Milvian Bridge. Maybe. But that's another story.  
  
"Well, so the story goes, he prayed for guidance, and received a vision, with the words, _in hoc signo vinces._ You know what that is?"  
  
"Latin?" Clark guessed, hoping he was right.  
  
"Well, yes, but do you know what it means?"  
  
Clark shook his head wordlessly.  
  
"By this sign, you will conquer. Well, I fought a battle, on a bridge, and received a sign from above as well." He looked up at Clark. "Remember when I said that we have a future together? I meant it."  
  
"But you lost. I mean, the barbed wire won." Clark said in a tone that was like a question.  
  
"Merely a setback. I wasn't defeated. You saw to that. And I decided that maybe, just maybe, it really was a sign."  
  
"What kind of sign?"  
  
Lex shrugged. "I didn't know. I spent quite a lot of time and energy, and more than a little money sort of . . . nosing around, trying to figure it out." He pulled Clark closer for a quick kiss. "But I think I figured it out eventually."  
  
Clark grinned as Lex kissed him again. "Well, I'm glad you figured it out."  
  
"When do you have to go home?"  
  
"I've got some reading to do for biology, so I should probably head home after dinner."  
  
Lex nodded and, still holding Clark's hand, led him back towards the car. "Well, why don't we head back to the castle and we can play video games or something until dinner, then?" 


	5. Victoria's Brief Appearance

Title: Honesty Prequel -- Victoria's Brief Appearance  
Author: PepperjackCandy  
Series: Comes after "Epiphany"  
Archive : Smallville Slash Archive, my writing at fanfiction.net  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: Clark/Lex  
Category: Established Relationship  
Spoilers for: References to Rogue  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Smallville-related, or related in any other way to Clark Kent, Superman or any of the various creations of the wonderful folks at DC Comics. _The Snow Queen_ is copyright 1980 by Joan D. Vinge, who is a goddess.  
  
Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail or using the review system at fanfiction.net.   
  
A/N: I know I get the HoNay! interruptions wrong, but I figure the difference in Lex and Clark's relationship in this series might have caused that change.  
  
For Minnie, because I warned her, and for Nymph, because this is about as sexy as it gets when I'm writing.  
  
========  
  
"Ready to go?" Lex asked as he came into the den in a black suit and tie, white button-down shirt neatly pressed.  
  
Clark looked up from the copy of The Snow Queen he was reading. "Yeah. Just a few more pages."  
  
Lex poured himself a shot of Scotch. He sipped at it as he walked closer to Clark. "Must be a good book."  
  
"It is." Clark responded without looking up.  
  
Lex sighed and waited.   
  
Finally Clark looked up. "Done." He sighed.  
  
"You don't sound happy." Lex said as he raised the glass to his mouth for another sip.  
  
"I'm not. BZ just arrested Moon."  
  
"I take it that's a bad thing?"  
  
"Of course it is! BZ loves Moon."  
  
"Did she do whatever she's accused of?"  
  
"Yes. But . . ."  
  
Lex looked at him steadily, waiting for the rest of the sentence.  
  
"But the law she broke was wrong."  
  
"Wrong how?"  
  
"Unfair. Unjust."  
  
"Ah. So it's all right to break an unjust law?"  
  
Clark thought for a moment. "I don't know if it's all right. But I don't think you should be punished for it."  
  
"Especially not by someone who loves you."   
Clark smiled a little. "Yeah."  
  
"So, are we ready to go?"  
  
"Should you be driving?" Clark looked at the empty glass in Lex's hand.  
  
Lex grinned. "A shot of scotch isn't going to impair my ability to drive." He glanced at his watch. "In fact, my blood alcohol level should be peaking right about now."  
  
"Oh. That instills all sorts of confidence in me."  
  
Lex pouted and handed the car keys to Clark. "If you want to play designated driver."  
  
Clark goggled. "Are you sure?"  
  
Lex wasn't sure, but he needed to soothe his boyfriend's worries, so he smiled and said, "Yes. I'm sure. But only for the first hour, if we're going to be on time for this thing. I can promise you that the alcohol will be completely out of my system by then."  
  
Clark nodded as they walked to the car together.  
  
Two hours, and one change of drivers, later, Lex left his car with the valet outside of the Metropolis Museum of Art.  
  
They walked into the newly-opened Luthor Hall. All of the other men there were in what Clark took to be designer suits, the women in black cocktail dresses. Clark suddenly keenly felt like he should have dressed up more than just khakis and his blue sportcoat.   
  
Lex picked up on Clark's discomfort. "Feel underdressed?"  
  
"Is it that obvious?"  
  
Lex smiled. "Not to everyone. Just me. You were sort of . . . tugging at the side seams on your pants."  
  
"Oh." Clark blushed.  
  
"Don't be worried. Just carry yourself confidently and no one will even notice."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
Lex ran his hand over his scalp with a smirk. "If there's one thing I know, it's how to get along when you feel like you don't fit in."  
  
Clark gave Lex a genuine smile and together they walked into the milling crowd.  
  
They circulated, eating hors d'oeuvres and drinking -- Clark, ginger ale, Lex, champagne. Lex introduced Clark to a few of the attendees. Then after each other person had moved on, Lex told him what he really thought of him or her.  
  
About halfway through the evening, Clark came back from the men's room to find Lex standing by a case containing a gold-colored breastplate spangled with rubies, sapphires and diamonds.   
  
"You know it belonged to Alexander the Great?" Lex asked with a smile. "They say the design symbolizes strength and courage."  
  
"I can't exactly see myself going into battle with that on my chest." Clark snorted.  
  
"Darker times call for darker methods. His opponents thought he was invincible."  
  
"I didn't know you were such a history buff."  
  
"I'm not. I'm just interested in people who ruled the world before they were 30."  
  
"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting?" A young auburn-haired woman asked as she interrupted them.  
  
Lex sighed resignedly. "Clark Kent, this is Victoria Hardwick. A very old friend." He unobtrusively touched Clark's hand in reassurance. "I'll catch up with you later, Clark," he promised.  
  
After Clark had left, he turned back to Victoria. "To what do I owe this honor?"  
  
She sidled up to him in a faux-sexy way that made his skin crawl. "Aren't you going to take me on a private tour?"  
  
"What do you want, Victoria?"  
  
"Is it illegal to want to rekindle an old flame?"  
  
"The way you do it, probably."  
  
Victoria pouted, and Lex had to restrain the urge to scream. "But I missed you, Lex." She slowly walked the first two fingers of her right hand up his necktie.  
  
"Victoria . . ." Lex said in a warning tone.  
  
"My father has a business proposition for you."  
  
Lex pursed his lips as if thinking. "Mmmmm. . . No."  
  
This evidently wasn't what Victoria expected at all. "No?"  
  
"No."  
  
"You don't know what you're doing, Lex."   
  
Lex smiled a little, coldly. "I think I do. Give Sir Harry my regards." Then, without another word, Lex turned on his heel and left.  
  
_Damn it!_ Victoria swore silently. Suddenly claustrophobic in the crush of the cream of Metropolis society, she made a beeline for the exit.   
  
Once outside, she gasped in gulps of fresh air. _What the hell am I going to tell my father?_ She worried, descending the stairs. In no hurry to leave, she avoided the valet stand, instead heading to the left, towards Adams Street.   
  
She never even saw the bus coming.  
  
Lex wandered around for a few minutes before finding Clark talking to Lana, Whitney and Nell.   
  
"Enjoying the exhibit?" He asked as he joined them.   
  
Nell pasted on her best phony smile. "It's just fascinating, Lex." She simpered.  
  
Lana chewed her lower lip for a moment, then spoke. "Lex, all of this stuff has been in your family for generations?"  
  
Lex nodded. "Yes."  
  
"Why did your father decide to put it all in the museum like this?"  
  
Lex shook his head. "I have no idea. If you can figure it out . . ." He stopped midsentence when the tone of conversations in the room changed suddenly. "What's going on?" He asked.  
  
Clark tuned in to a conversation behind him. "It sounds like there was an accident outside."   
  
Together, Clark and Lex walked outside to where a crowd had gathered at the corner of Market and Adams. Clark walked ahead of Lex, forging a path for him to follow.   
  
Clark, still squeamish even after all he'd experienced, flinched away from the sight of Victoria's crumpled body.   
  
To the casual observer, it looked like Lex handled it better, but Clark could see the tension in the set of his boyfriend's shoulders, and the way his already-pale face blanched a little more.   
  
Lex walked resolutely to the uniformed officer keeping the gawkers at bay. "What happened here?" he asked.  
  
"Strangest thing, Mr. Luthor. Looks like this lady tried to cross the street without looking and was hit by the bus. When he got out to see what he'd hit, the bus driver had a heart attack." He pointed to where someone, apparently a doctor, was crouched next to an elderly man in a Metropolis Transit Authority uniform.   
  
They heard the sound of ambulance sirens approaching and the police officer started to direct the onlookers back about their business.   
  
Clark watched Lex almost crumble before his eyes. "Come on. Let's get out of here."  
  
"No. I have to handle this. I have to . . ." Lex insisted weakly.  
  
"There's nothing here for you to handle, Lex. You look like you need to sit down."  
  
"But . . ."  
  
Clark gently took Lex's shoulders, leading him back towards the museum, but when they reached the bottom of the stairs, Lex balked. "No. I'm not going back in there."  
  
"So where do you want to go, then?"  
  
"Home." Lex walked to the valet stand, where a dozen or so people waited, and pushed to the front of the line. He handed the attendant a hundred-dollar bill to get his car first, and soon, a still-shaken Clark and Lex were on their way back to Smallville.  
  
An hour and a half later, Lex pulled up in the drive in front of Luthor Manor. He looked over at Clark.   
  
Clark looked back silently, expectantly.  
  
"Could you come in for a while? I need a distraction. Something to keep me from thinking about someone I once . . .cared about . . . under the wheels of that bus." Lex slowly leaned forward as he said this, his gaze reeling Clark in to meet him in the center for a passionate kiss.  
  
Somehow, they got out of the car without pausing in their kissing and Lex pressed into Clark, nearly bending him backwards over the hood of the car.  
  
"Lex - shouldn't we take this inside?" Clark asked.  
  
Lex looked up, meeting Clark's eyes, a predatory grin on his face. He somehow kicked the car door shut as he stood and together they walked into the house.  
  
They barely made it into the foyer before Lex had Clark pressed up against the wall, kissing him fiercely. He pulled his head away from Clark's mouth just long enough to unbutton the second button of Clark's red button-down shirt, then he gradually kissed and unbuttoned his way down Clark's chest.   
  
Reaching the waistband of Clark's khakis, Lex untucked Clark's shirt and stood, pushing the shirt and sportcoat together off of Clark's shoulders.   
  
The progress of Lex stripping Clark was hindered, however, when the buttons of Clark's cuffs kept the shirt/jacket combination from sliding off of Clark's arms.  
  
"Damn!" Lex whispered as he pushed frantically, futilely, at the now inside-out shirt.  
  
Clark pulled Lex back up, kissing him. "I'll get it." He said with a soft smile on his lips and in his eyes. He wiggled his arms back through the sleeves enough to unbutton the cuffs, then let the shirt fall to the floor behind him.   
  
Lex whimpered at the sight of Clark shirtless. He ran his hands up Clark's chest as he captured Clark's mouth again for a kiss.   
  
When they separated next, Clark whispered to Lex, "Do you want to take this . . . upstairs?"   
  
Lex couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Yes. I've never wanted anything so much in my life." He nodded, gazing deeply into Clark's eyes for what seemed like forever.   
  
Clark smiled, blushing, and kissed Lex again.  
  
Clark scooped up his shirt and jacket and held them in his right hand as Lex grabbed his left hand, pulling him towards the stairs. "Do you have any . . . doubts about this?" Lex asked.  
  
Clark shook his head slowly. "No. I wouldn't have suggested it, otherwise."  
  
Lex smiled. "Good. Just checking."   
  
They climbed the stairs then and walked together to Lex's bedroom.   
  
========  
  
A/N II: This originally was to lead right into the first chapter of Honesty, with Clark and Lex waking up in bed together, and it still does, in a way. That first chapter does immediately follow this one. However, some stuff from Shimmer, Hug and Leech (Leech in particular) have inspired me, so there'll be a few chapters of this that will fall in that two-month period between Clark and Lex waking up in bed together and the kidnapping. If that makes any sense. 


End file.
